SAVANNAH, Georgia — Standing just blocks from the third-busiest seaport in the country, former President Donald Trump vowed on Tuesday to expand U.S. manufacturing massively and, in turn, exponentially grow U.S. exports if elected in November.
The Republican presidential nominee visited Georgia following a seven-week hiatus from the state in a move to appeal to coastal voters with a message on jobs, economics, and taxes that favored both employers and workers.
“We’re going to launch a historic buildup of American manufacturing muscle and might,” Trump told the roughly 2,500 attendees gathered inside the Johnny Mercer Theater downtown. “Atlanta and Savannah are going to be right in the center of the action. We’re going to rebuild our manufacturing.”
Trump shared a multipronged plan that he touted would stimulate the economy and entice foreign companies to open factories in the United States rather than force the U.S. to import goods from abroad at the current rate.
Trump said that under a second administration, he would further reduce the amount of money that businesses would have to pay the federal government in taxes, from 21% now down to 15%.
Trump lowered the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% through the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, known as the Trump tax cuts.
“Under my plan, American workers will no longer be worried about losing your jobs to foreign nations,” said Trump. “Instead, foreign nations will be worried about losing their jobs to America.”
The plan could appeal to Savannah and coastal Georgia residents, in particular. Savannah’s largest manufacturing employer is Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, whose more than 11,000 employees build jets and aerospace equipment, according to the Savannah Chamber of Commerce.
Trump vowed to personally work with Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) to expand the Port of Savannah a second time following the first expansion during his administration.
“This will happen so fast,” said Trump. “With a world-class port and a world-class workforce, this city will soon become one of the premier export ports anywhere on Earth, tripling and quadrupling traffic.”
“We will be able to build ships again. We will be able to build airplanes at a much higher level again,” said Trump. “We will become the world leader in robotics.”
Harris’s campaign hosted billionaire businessman Mark Cuban on Tuesday to hit back on Trump’s plan.
“Trump’s idea of a 20% across-the-board tax on all imported products is insane,” Cuban said in the podcast. “That is a national sales tax. He wants to impose a tax on American consumers.”
The Trump campaign has defended the plan as a way to dramatically stimulate business and create more jobs.
Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) criticized Trump’s approach following the speech and said only Harris had an adequate plan to address the economy.
“Kamala will build up our working class, invest in U.S. manufacturing, and deliver for American families,” Hickenlooper wrote in a post to X on Tuesday afternoon. “Trump doesn’t know a tariff is a tax on working Americans.”
Kamala will build up our working class, invest in U.S. manufacturing, and deliver for American families.
Trump doesn’t know a tariff is a tax on working Americans. https://t.co/UFTJR7httz
— John Hickenlooper (@Hickenlooper) September 24, 2024
Both the Trump campaign and Vice President Kamala Harris have increasingly focused on winning over Georgia voters in recent months. Georgia is one of six battleground states nationwide that could go either way in the presidential election.
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Harris has visited Savannah twice over the past month and focused her comments on abortion and reproductive rights, while Trump spoke Tuesday about the economy and jobs.
Trump faces an uphill battle in Georgia after winning the state in 2016 but losing to President Joe Biden in 2020.
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
